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[A]nti-feminist backlash occurs not when women have achieved equality but when there is any possibility that we might. It's "a pre-emptive strike" and here, I would say, it's been going on for the past five years. This is a strange time to be talking of backlashes when we have just seen several successful feminist campaigns, but we need to understand the scale of what is happening. I am glad there is a woman's face on the money. But can we have more actual money? Equal pay?
The reality is that in public life, politics, business and media, we are grossly under-represented. There are constant attacks on abortion, a push to make women dependent on partners – Iain Duncan Smith's "belief" – and women are disproportionally hit by cuts. The icons of the day are mute and "respectable" – such as Sam Cam and Kate Middleton.
The backlash started in the early 90s when to be laddish and un-PC was a bit a naughty. Liam Gallagher, described brilliantly by his brother Noel as "a man with a fork in a world of soup", was its pin-up.
Right now we are dealing with something worse: a rightwing establishment and its lackeys who have managed to convince themselves they are mavericks and who are openly anti-feminist.
